The first two days of the Ashes second test at Lords are over and it would appear that England are on track for a 5 nil whitewash of the series. Australia are terrible – poor bowling at times and abominable batting. It is difficult to see how Australia can compete in this Ashes series, let alone this test match.
In the end it was a very close match that England won and Australia lost. The first test of the current Ashes series is over with plenty of controversy and action a plenty. It was a great game, though sadly it will be remembered for the controversy surrounding the DRS as much as for the game itself. But having said that, Australia really did a bad job in the way it used the DRS system, while England handled the DRS masterfully and full credit to them. With just 14 runs between the two sides, the second test has a lot to live up to following this match.
I can’t really make any useful comments on the English team, but as far as Australia is concerned I think it is time for Ed Cowan to be shown the door and for David Warner to return. Failing the return of Warner, who I believe has been sent to Africa with Australia A for some batting practice, perhaps it is time for the return of Usman Khawaja. The Australian batsmen really need to lift their game, because in reality the match was a lot closer than it should have been and they have the lower order to thanks for that – particularly the bowlers.
As for the bowling effort – work needs to be done also. There was far too much waywardness in the fast bowling ranks. Thankfully Nathan Lyon should be banished to the sidelines given the performance of Ashton Agar – a spinner who actually spins the ball and he can bat, which is very handy in the absence of a reliable upper order.
The link below is to an article concerning the Australian cricket team in the lead up to The Ashes which begin tomorrow. It highlights fielding as a major issue for Australia (and there are plenty of issues – batting form, bowling, spin bowling, swing, etc) according to Mark Waugh.
For more visit:
http://www.cricket.com.au/news/news-archive/2013/7/8/aussies-must-improve-fielding-lapse-waugh
The West Indies have humiliated England in the test match at Sabina Park by an innings and 23 runs. England was all out for 51 in their second innings. Jerome Taylor took 5 for 11, as he destroyed the English batting line up. West Indian skipper Chris Gayle scored 104 in the West Indian innings.
The West Indies have a 1 – 0 lead in the test series with 3 matches still to play.
ABOVE: A report on the match
The latest International Cricket Council World Batting Ratings list has West Indian batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul at the top, which quite ironic given the current status (7th out of 9 test playing teams) of the once great West Indian cricket team. However, Chanderpaul has been a standout batsman for the Windies for quite some time and is most certainly one of cricket’s most reliable batsmen.
Sliding just out of the top ten at 11 is ‘Mr Cricket’ or Michael Hussey (753). The once reliable Hussey has been in something of a form slump just lately and this has also seen his batting average (61.56) come down to earth and be more representative of Hussey’s true batting potential. Matthew Hayden’s (678) fall has continued and he now rests at number 18 in the ratings. Sachin Tendulkar (683) is at 16 with V. V. S. Laxman.
The top 10 are:
1. Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies) 900
2. Mohammad Yousuf (Pakistan) 880
2. Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) 880
4. Mahela Jayawardena (Sri Lanka) 854
5. Kevin Pietersen (England) 832
6. Ricky Ponting (Australia) 827
7. Graeme Smith (South Africa) 810
8. Younus Khan (Pakistan) 799
9. Michael Clarke (Australia) 772
10. Gautum Gambhir (India) 771
BELOW: Footage of Shivnarine Chanderpaul reaching 100 in the 3rd test against England at Old Trafford on the 11th June 2007.
I have been saying it for some time now – both on and off this Blog – the Australian test cricket team is in decline and coming back to the field. The recent test series results against India, New Zealand and now South Africa seem to show that it is indeed so. It had to happen – just as it happened to the world dominating West Indian team of yesteryear. Teams rise to the top and come back to the mix as another rises to the top.
Which is the top team now? Is it South Africa or is it India? England pretended to make a claim for the top ranking a little while back, but these two teams seem far more serious in their respective attempts. A test series between these two teams will perhaps show us the answer.
In the mean time it is likely that South Africa will defeat Australia in the current test series in Australia to the tune of 3 – 0. That is my prediction.
The ridiculous inclusion of Andrew Symonds while injured in the last test match came home to bite Australia when Brett Lee went down injured. Lee now appears to be out injured for some time and will join Stuart Clark on the sidelines – as will Andrew Symonds belatedly. Shane Watson will also be on the sidelines and his inclusion in the last team is as bewildering as that of Symonds, given that Watson was also injured and requires surgery.
It seems incredible to me that the replacements coming into the Australian team are simply those replacing injured players. The inclusion of Doug Bollinger is one that I have thought logical for some time, while Ben Hilfenhaus and Andrew McDonald are unexpected in my view.
If the selectors are going to keep Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle (which I suspect is a given), then I would also include Bollinger and Hilfenhaus, as well as McDonald. Who would go to make room for these three? Lee and Symonds (as well as Watson) have already been forced out due to injury. I would put Hilfenhaus in ahead of Nathan Hauritz. We just don’t have a spinner that currently cuts it at international level.
The selection that really bothers me is that of keeping Matthew Hayden in the side – if the selectors don’t know that it is time for him to go then surely Matthew Hayden must know! Even if he scores a reasonable or big score in the final test it is time for Hayden to make way for Phillip Hughes. Hayden has done little to justify his continual selection in the test team for some time and it is now becoming a sad tragedy to see this former great test opener heap embarrassment upon himself and the national team with each failure. It seems any big scores are now punctuated by a plethora of insignificant contributions with the bat from Hayden.
And one other thing – the attempt by Mike Hussey to take that skier in the last test – if you can’t see it in the sun there is little he can do about it. It looked embarrassing but there was little Hussey could do to change what was. The bigger concern for Hussey is his own poor form in the batting department. He must begin to contribute more soon too or he also could face the chop.
BELOW: The Michael Hussey attempted catch
BELOW: Graeme Smith speaks to Mark Taylor after South Africa won the second test and the series
Random Thoughts 